Spring-clasp.



No. 788,280. PATENTED APR. 20', 1905.

R. H. WELLES.

SPRING CLASP.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 26. 19 04.

NITED STATES Patented April 25, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD H. VVELLES, OF KENOSHA, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO BADGER BRASS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF KENOSHA, WVISCONSIN, A COR- PORATION OF WISCONSIN.

SPRING-CLASP.

SPECIFICATION fori'ning part of Letters Patent No. 788,230, dated April 25, 1905.

Application filed May 26, 1904. Serial No. 209,931.

To rtZ/I whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, RICHARD H. VVELLEs,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Kenosha, in the county of Kenosha and State of WVisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spring-Clasps, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to spring-clasps, and more particularly to a clasp adapted for locking together two telescoping members; and for the purpose of illustrating and describing the invention I have shown it embodied in a headlight wherein the clasp locks the font against separation from the headlight-casing.

Among the salient objects of the invention are to provide a clasp by means of whichtwo telescoped members may be locked together by a single movement of the clasp and without any bodily movement of either member, to provide a clasp having a circumferential engagement with each member when in locked position, to provide a clasp permanently attached to one member and arranged to embrace the other member as said members are brought together, and, in general, to provide a clasp which is simple, cheap, and effective. The invention will be readily understood from the following description, reference being had to the drawings illustrating one em- 0 bodiment thereof, and in which Figure 1 is a fragmentary view of a head-,

light, partly in section, embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a similar view in side elevation, showing unlocked position of the clasp with font partly removed; and Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates as a whole a headlight, such as is used on automobiles and the like, which comprises the cas- 4 ing 2, having the neck portion 3 and the font 4:, the upper portion of the font 4 being telescoped into the neck 3 in the manner indicated.

The spring-clasp constituting the invention comprises a wire spring 5, preferably round in cross-section, embedded in a circumferen tial groove 6, formed in the interior of the lower part of the neck portion 3,said spring having its ends turned outwardly at one side of said groove and projected through the wall 5 of said neck portion, as clearly indicated. One end projects through an aperture 7 and is stationary, while the other end projects through a circumferentially-extending slot 8 and has movably mounted thereupon a latch member 9. said latch member having an cecentrically curved cam-surface 9 which terminates in a retaining notch or socket 9. As said latch member is pressed downwardly, the cam-surface engages the outturned sta- 6O tionary end or shoulder of the spring 5, and the further pressure of the latch member draws the movable end of the spring toward the stationary end until the socket 9 of the latch member is brought into locked engage- 5 ment'with the shoulder on the stationary end of the spring, thus reducing the circumference of the spring, or, in other words, it is closed inwardly.

The upper or telescoping portion of the 7 font 4 is provided with a groove 10, which registers with the groove 6 when said font is in place, as clearly indicated in Fig. 2. It is obvious, therefore, that when the font is put in place and the spring drawn inwardly in the manner just described said spring embraces said font around the groove 10, thus securely locking the font against removal from the headlight-casing until the latch member 9 is raised and the spring allowed to 550 spring back into the depth of the groove 6.

It is to be understood, as clearly shown in the drawings, that the construction of the groove 6 in the neck portion 3 is such as to permit the necessary movement of the spring 5 inwardly without withdrawing it from the groove enough to allow it to move downwardly past a shoulder 11, and thus permit an accidental separation of the font from the casing. On the contrary, the springhas good 9 circumferential engagement with both the groove 10 in the font and the groove 6 in the interior of the neck portion to prevent any such unintentional separation, as well as to prevent loose or lost motion of the font within said neck. This is very important when such headlights are used on automobiles for the reason that they are subjected to a great deal of joggling in passing over rough roads.

While I have shown and described the invention embodied in a headlight, I do not limit the invention to this application or to the details here shown and described, except as made the subject-matter of specific claims.

I claim 1. In combination, alamp-font provided exteriorly around its neck portion with agroove, a lamp-casing provided interiorly around its neck portion with a corresponding groove adapted to register with said first groove when the two neck portions are telescopically'em gaged, a spring band member seated within one of said grooves and adapted to be moved to partially occupy both grooves to prevent the separation of said font and casing, and a latch member upon one end of said. spring member and adapted to move the opposite end thereof by a cam engagement into said looking position, substantially as described.

2. In combination, a lamp-font provided exteriorly around its neck portion with a groove, a lamp-casing provided interiorly around its neck portion with a corresponding groove of greater depth adapted to register with said first groove when said parts are telescopically engaged, a spring band member seated within said deeper groove and having its ends projected through the wall of said lamp-casing, a latch member pivotally attached to one end of said band member and provided with a spiral cam-surface terminating in a seat and adapted to engage the opposite end of said spring band member and to move it by cam engagement into said seat, whereby said band member is moved into partial engagement with both of said grooves to prevent the separation of said lamp-casing and said font, substantially as described.

3. A clasp for locking two telescoping members together, comprising a spring-body embedded in a circumferential groove upon the interior of the outer member and provided at one end with a locking-shoulder and at the other end with a latch member having a spiral cam-surface which terminates in a retainingnotch and is adapted to draw the ends of said spring-body toward each other into locking position.

4. A clasp for locking two telescoping members together, comprising a spring-body embedded in a circumferential groove upon the interior of the outer member and projected at one end through an aperture in the wall of said outer member'and at the other end through a circumferentially-extending slot through said wall and provided on one end with alatch member having a spiral cam-surface which terminates in a retaining-notch and is adapted to draw the ends of said spring-body toward each other into locking position, substantially as described.

RICHARD H. WELLES.

Witnesses: I

ALBERT H. GRAVES, FREDERICK C. GooDwIN. 7 

